


Captain's Log

by orphan_account



Series: Captain's Log [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Canon-Compliant, Hand Jobs, M/M, Praise Kink, Samezuka-centric, aromantic Sousuke, background MomoTori, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 16:54:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3576927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the beginning of the season, Rin didn’t expect that by the time regionals came around he’d be trying to find the right time to kiss Sousuke. He didn’t expect that his friend would become his best friend and someone he loved more than just about everyone else, except maybe his sister. But after a season of swim team shenanigans—shaving cream fights, captain’s practices, drawing on his friends during swim meets, helping his teammates put on their caps, yelling at people who touch his feet during practice, shaving parties, and trying to avoid being featured on Nitori’s Samezuka Instagram account—plus living and competing with Sousuke, things started to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Captain Nipples' Pain Wheel

They all knew their morning was ruined when Rin entered the pool carrying a towel-wrapped package in his long arms. The silhouette under the fabric of the red-and-black Samezuka towel was circular with a wide plastic base visible under the swaying hem, but no one had any idea what it could be. 

The team was gathered around the starting blocks, most of them either yawning or complaining about being up at eight on a Saturday morning for practice. When Rin walked through the double doors, however, the conversation immediately shifted pace to concern whatever torture he had in store for them that morning. Saturdays without meets were captain’s practices—the coaches got a day off and the captain got to wreak whatever havoc he chose on the team. Seijuuro’s notorious captain’s practices included a 100 x 100 IM set, a marathon of 200s that took up an hour and half of practice on its own, and various tortures that involved swimming fully dressed for extra drag or getting out after every fifty meters to do an increasing number of pushups. 

So Rin didn’t want to disappoint. Rumors had been passing around the pool deck for a week about what creative torture he was planning, but no one, not even Sousuke, could say for sure. Rin carefully set the package down on the pool deck and everybody fell silent waiting for him to speak. This in itself was a miracle—Momo and some of the underclassmen just couldn’t keep their mouths shut without the fear of the coaches over their shoulders. 

“All right,” Rin began. “Since this is my first captain’s practice, I wanted to organize something a little…” he paused to grin in the most menacing possible fashion, sharp teeth all bared, “ _special._ ”

Momo groaned. “Just tell us already!” he shouted from where he was perched on the lane two starting block. 

“Hm…no,” Rin replied with another wide smile. Without removing the towel from whatever it was he had brought into the pool, he retrieved his goggles from his jacket pocket, shucked off his jacket, and headed towards lane one. “Everybody in for a meet warmup first.”

Momo groaned again. Rin shot Sousuke a look, and Sousuke pushed Momo backwards into the pool. He grunted in protest and howled all the way down. Rin didn’t hear Nitori lean over to another second year and whisper that, no matter how bad the practice got, Rin had three dozen donuts waiting for them outside the pool. Just in case he needed to buy back their love. 

The team dispersed into their respective lanes: from eight to one based on speed, with Rin and Sousuke up in lane one, a pair of first years and one unlucky third-year breaststroker in lane eight, and everyone else in groups of three or four between them. Momo, having recovered, sucked in a mouthful of water and was about to shoot it over the lane line at Sousuke when Nitori intervened. A wave washed Momo’s hair over his face when Ai jumped right over him into the water. 

“So what _do_ you have planned, captain?” Sou asked Rin as they put on their goggles. Sousuke made sure to add as much sarcasm as possible into the last word. 

“I call it the ‘Matsuoka Pain Wheel,’” Rin replied. He looked thrilled by his own cleverness and creativity as he snapped his goggles against the back of his head. Sousuke wasn’t really sure why Rin had made such a ridiculous and probably painful move his signature. Sousuke, like a normal person, respected the condition both of his eyes and of the straps of his goggles.

“That’s a terrible name,” Sousuke chided. Down the pool, the last few swimmers had started their warmup; Sousuke and Rin were left watching the churn of limbs and spray of white droplets that fanned out over the deep blue surface of the pool. The sound of kicking feet and slapping hands along with the constant splash of the water against the sides of the pool echoed in the high-ceilinged room. Rin had always thought that it sounded like the breath of the pool; it was so familiar to him that, like his own breathing, he hardly noticed it unless he listened. 

“Just get in the damn pool, Yamazaki,” Rin grumbled.

“Aye aye, captain,” Sousuke laughed before diving in. 

Once Rin had finished his warmup twenty minutes later, he got out of the pool to call everyone to a stop. The team once again clustered at the wall facing Rin where he stood by what they would soon find out was the Pain Wheel. 

Rin reached down and whipped the towel away with a flourish like a magician revealing that he had just sawed his assistant in half, and the look on his face was just as proud as if he had. 

“I call this the Matsuoka Pain Wheel,” he announced. Sousuke started laughing at all his pride and posturing. It certainly was much more creative than anything Seijuuro had come up with the previous year. Sousuke respected the time Rin must have put into finding and fixing up that thing—Rin had painted over whatever words had been on the fractions of the lottery wheel and replaced them with different challenges. When the wheel was spun, a red plastic arrow at the top would indicate what challenge was in store. The challenges ranged from “300 easy” to “10x100 sprint” to “3x200 half best stroke half fly” to “30 pushups, 30 squat thrusts.” For the most part, however, they weren’t marked with specific strokes. Rin had an answer to that, too.

“We need a volunteer to spin the wheel each time to determine the workout,” Rin explained. “And another to draw a chip from this bag to pick the stroke.” He reached behind the wheel and produced a cloth bag from which he drew a plastic poker chip. A strip of silver tape had been stuck on the face of the chip, and the tape was marked with “BACK.” 

“So _this_ is what we’ve been waiting for, Nipples?” Momo called.

“Momo, shut up,” Rin snapped. Did the kid ever stop talking? “And don’t call me Nipples!” The nickname had originated when, the previous year, the team started noticing that, no matter how warm everyone else thought it was in the pool building, Rin was always nipping during practice. Nitori had been the first person to notice, but he had made the mistake of joking about it to another teammate, who joked about it to Sei, and suddenly Rin couldn’t escape the nickname. Sometimes he was just “Nips” for short. 

“You’re letting an underclassman bully you?” Sousuke teased from the water. “Come on, Rin!” 

“Yeah, Sousuke’s right!” Rin exclaimed. “Momo, you can’t call me that, I’m the captain!”

“Sorry, Captain Nipples,” Momo called back. The entire team exploded into laughter that echoed through the pool. 

Rin swore under his breath. One practice without the coaches and this happened. He really needed to get them to acknowledge his authority.

“All right, Momo, you’re spinning first. Get over here.” He gestured for Momo to get out of the pool and approach the Pain Wheel.

Momo looked concerned that Rin was going to kick his ass as he cautiously approached the Pain Wheel. Rin, however, just stood to the side and watched while Momo pulled the wheel down and pushed it forward to get it spinning. The red plastic arrow bent and clicked as the wheel spun.

“There is a catch, though,” Rin announced. “Momo was being obnoxious, so we’re all going to swim this set butterfly.” Rin looked at Sousuke and shot him a thumbs-up. Sou returned it with a grin. 

The entire team, minus the three flyers who all looked extremely amused, groaned. The wheel began to slow down, but instead of letting it stop on its own, Rin reached out and halted it with his hand. On the set of 10 x 100 sprint. Momo clapped his hands to his face and whined while Rin laughed heartily. 

“Damn it, Momo!” someone shouted from lane six. 


	2. "Eat My Bubbles" and a Fish (Or Something)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drawing on your teammates' backs is a classic swim team activity. The logical conclusion of this is writing terrible, embarrassing things on your friends' backs that they then have to wear around for the whole meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to note, "eat my bubbles" is like "eat my dust." It's, like, THE thing to write on your friends at swim meets when y'all are about nine years old.

The bus was crammed full of about thirty Samezuka swimming boys, a pair of coaches, the managers, and everyone’s bulky bags of gear. Long legs spilled into the aisle and arms and bodies were half-draped over the backs of the seats. Several bags had tipped over to spill towels, swim caps, and bags of snacks in a mulch on the floor. The whole bus smelled like chlorine and it buzzed with chatter and faint music. Some of the team had brought along notebooks and textbooks and were diligently using the two-hour bus ride to complete school work for the coming Monday, but for the most part the passengers were talking amongst themselves, sleeping under towels, or on their phones.

Rin had used the magical power of Captain’s Privilege to secure him and Sousuke seats in the very back row of the bus, farthest from the vigilance of the coaches. Most of the swimmers were doubled up in the pairs of seats on either side of the aisle, but Rin had grabbed a row just for him and Sousuke so they could each stretch out their legs in their seats. In the pair of seats in front of Rin, Momo and Nitori had fallen asleep on each other. One of Momo’s earbuds had fallen in his lap and Rin could hear the thrum of some poppy electronic beat. 

When Rin looked across the aisle at Sousuke, he saw his friend with his head leaned back against the window, slightly turned so the long plane of his cheek faced Rin, watching the road disappear under the bus. Sou looked good in the sleek black Samezuka gear. He was going to be in their relay that day; they had to practice for prefecturals in a few weeks. Rin smiled. It felt easier to have his friend there with him at Samezuka: showing up to practice every day, sharing his spot in lane one, striking the wall to send Rin off on the freestyle leg of the relay. And now sharing his room, though that often meant that they hardly got any work done and the room reeked of chlorine and various joint sprays all the time. As captain, Sou was like his second-in-command, helping him keep the kids in line. Good thing Sousuke stood about a foot taller and weighed like fifty pounds more than everyone else on the team. Or something like that. The guy was big. 

Rin continued to watch Sousuke watch the road. They were en route to a dual meet with a team that had a decent breaststroker, some IMers, and not much else. Samezuka would be continuing their winning streak. Rin hoped they could carry the momentum and enthuasiasm of their as-of-yet undefeated season into prefecturals, especially now that he had Sou making the relay team a real threat in their division. He had hopes not just to continue the victories for the sake of the team—it certainly felt good being the captain of such a successful group of swimmers. And despite the previous week’s upset at the captain’s practice, they did respect him as the leader. Maybe he would be able to close out the season stronger than a Samezuka captain had in a long time. 

Rin whipped his head forward in surprise as Momo and Nitori woke with a tandem scream-squeal. A couple of first-years were leaning over the seats in front of Momo and Nitori with their water bottles trained at the boys’ faces. Nitori frantically wiped his face.

“Oi!” Rin exclaimed. “No water fights on the bus. The last time first years had a water fight on the bus, we drowned them. Right, Ai?” 

Nitori grinned. He appreciated no longer being at the bottom of the Samezuka pecking order. “Yeah,” he said, trying to make his voice as threatening as possible. “They still haunt the pool!”

Rin winced at his cheesy threat. “Ai, that was almost cool. We’ll work on it.” Nitori scowled at him over the seat. “Anyway, no water fights on the bus or I’m kicking your asses.” 

The first years mumbled apologies and disappeared back to the front of the bus. The pair of second-year freestylers that had been displaced by the misbegotten prank returned, bewildered, to their now-unoccupied seats. 

“Damn, I was napping,” Momo grumbled. Nitori handed him the towel from his bag to dry his face. Rin looked across the aisle to see that Sousuke had broken from his reverie and now looked vaguely amused by the scene. 

“You would have been just as annoying as a first year,” Rin teased.

“No, I wouldn’t have. I have never been that annoying,” Sousuke replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well I knew you as a kid, and I think you were,” Rin jabbed back with a grin. 

“When you were younger, did you ever write on your friends’ backs at swim meets?” Nitori interrupted, leaning over the seat to block Rin and Sousuke’s good-natured bickering. “Stuff like ‘eat my bubbles?’ Or drawings of fish?”

Rin laughed out loud. “Yeah, I definitely did that.” 

Momo chimed in. “Nitori! That sounds fun! I think I still have some markers in my bag from when we were making psych-up posters yesterday.” He reached down and rummaged in the bag between his legs until he found a pair of permanent markers, one purple and one black. “Draw on me! Something cool,” he insisted. He shoved the markers toward Nitori, who took them mostly out of surprise while Momo stripped off his jacket and shirt. He turned in his seat so he faced the window, knees curled up to his chest, with his bare back towards Nitori.

“Okay,” Nitori conceded. He uncapped the purple marker. “What should I draw?” he asked.

“Write something tough. Or Samezuka! Write Samezuka. And draw a fish or something,” he demanded. 

Rin looked over to Sousuke, who still seemed amused. 

“I don’t remember ever drawing on you as a kid,” Rin remarked.

“No, I thought it was silly to have stupid shit like ‘eat my bubbles’ written on my back,” he replied. 

“Then come over here!” Rin leaned over the seat and took the other marker from Nitori. “I’ll draw on you. This is a special swim team activity. Everyone has to do it at some point or they’re not really a swimmer.” He moved his bag off the empty seat and motioned for Sousuke to sit beside him. 

“No way,” Sousuke replied, “am I going to let you write on my back.” He looked at Rin with his eyebrows raised and his arms crossed against his chest. 

“Why not?” Rin whined.

“Because if I were writing on your back, I’d write ‘I am Captain Nipples’ and draw a dick,” Sou said. 

Rin paused. “Okay, that’s fair, but I promise I won’t do that. I’ll draw a shark. I swear on my life.” He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. 

“Swear on those brand new goggles you have. I take them, and if you draw a dick on my back you’ll never see them again,” Sou bargained. He extended his hand over the aisle. 

“Deal!” Rin reached into his bag and fished out his goggles. He’d only worn them to one practice to test them out for the meet. There weren’t even any fingerprints on the lenses yet and the red rubber straps—he had special-ordered them, since Speedo didn’t keep red Vanquishers in stock in any of the nearby stores—were still bent from being packed in their plastic case. He handed them to Sousuke and Sou stashed them in the pocket of his jacket before grudgingly sliding over to sit beside Rin.

“Shirt off,” Rin ordered. Sousuke pulled off his jacket and tee shirt and tossed them into his seat across the aisle. “Careful! My goggles are in there,” Rin grumbled.

“Don’t fuck up. If I have to walk into the meet looking like Momo drew on my back with his eyes closed, I promise you I will move out,” Sou warned. Rin ignored him to pull his phone out and look up a photo of a shark to draw.

“What kind of shark do you want?” Rin asked.

“I don’t care at all,” Sousuke replied. 

“What about a tiger shark? This looks cool.”

“I don’t care.”

“Okay, I’m going to draw a great white shark because they’re probably the coolest kind, right?” 

“I don’t know, because I don’t care.”

“Shut up, Sou!” Rin thumped his elbow against Sousuke’s back. “And don’t move.”

Rin sat cross-legged sideways in the seat and leaned forward. He steadied himself with his left hand Sousuke’s shoulder and balanced his phone on his crossed ankles. With the movement of the bus, it was difficult to make clear lines if he went too quickly, so he slowly sketched out the outline of the shark arcing to bridge Sousuke’s spine. Rin saw Sou shirtless plenty of times during practice and in the room, but he was still surprised how far the muscles of his back stood out, making the walls of a shallow canyon around Sousuke’s backbone. Rin had to dip the tip of the marker carefully so as to not squiggle the lines going over the sharp ridges. Rin tried not to make it look like the shark was smiling when he drew the mouth, and he was almost successful. He hoped it didn’t look too pained. 

Aside from the surprise of the musculature, Sou’s back was very familiar. There was a mole on his left shoulder blade, right below where Rin rested his free hand; there was the white scar on the back of his neck, right below his hairline, from some childhood accident. His body was tanned from many outdoor meets, but with Sou’s sweatpants riding down he could see the edge of the pale line where the tan broke. Sousuke’s hair was thin at his shoulders but thickened as his back sloped downward. Rin had avoided the thick black hair on his lower back when picking the spot for the shark. The drawing had to be slightly smaller than he originally pictured.

“We’re shaving your back for regionals,” Rin stated. “I’ll do it myself if I have to, this is gross.”

“Good, because if you want my back shaved you’ll have to do it,” Sousuke replied. Rin finished off the fin atop the shark. 

“Why are you shaving each other?” Momo asked from the seat ahead of them. 

“It’s a swimming thing, Momo,” Nitori replied. “Before our big meets we have a party in the locker room and shave our whole bodies. To reduce drag.”

Momo was silent for a moment. “What the fuck? Why do you do it together, though? And…shit, your _whole_ bodies?” he sounded stressed. 

“Yeah, we’re getting Ai to shave your dick for you,” Rin replied nonchalantly. Sousuke snorted, which earned him another thump on the back for jeopardizing Rin’s artwork. 

“Rin!” Ai howled. “No, you don’t have to shave your crotch area. Just anything that isn’t covered by a swimsuit.”

“Actually, this year our team suits have these little windows in the front—” Rin began. Nitori groaned loudly. 

“Watch out, Rin, I think you’re killing him,” Sousuke laughed. Rin peeked between the seats and noticed that, while Nitori continued drawing on Momo’s back, they had both turned bright red. 

“Stop moving,” Rin chided. He finished off the tail fin and started writing out SAMEZUKA above the shark as a finishing touch. It looked damn good, at least in his opinion. Sou should get this shit tattooed. 

He moved to cap the marker and tell Sousuke it was done, but he found himself regretting taking his hand away from the warmth of Sou’s back. They lived together and swam together, but he hardly ever found himself touching Sou for any period of time longer than what it took to give a fist bump. He felt like he should change that; it was comforting leaning up close to one of his oldest friends. They were friends and roommates and teammates, after all—they could hug every once in a while. 

“Are you done?” Sousuke asked. 

“Uh, yeah,” Rin stuttered. He put the cap on the marker and stowed it in his pocket. “I’ll take a photo.” He held up his phone and snapped a photo of Sousuke’s back, then handed the phone over Sou’s shoulder so he could look. Sousuke turned so his back was no longer to Rin.

“This is actually good,” he admitted before handing the phone back. “You didn’t even write anything shitty.”

Rin shrugged. “The goggles were expensive.” 

Sousuke retrieved his jacket from his seat before returning to sit with Rin again and handing back his goggles. 

“Congratulations, you’re a real swimmer now.” Rin said with a grin. He reached into his bag to get his headphones so he could listen to music for the rest of the trip.

“What are you doing? I get to draw on you now. That’s how it works.” Sou demanded. 

“Shit,” Rin exclaimed, but he handed Sou the marker and took off his shirt and jacket nonetheless. “I swear if you write ‘Captain Nipples’ I’m kicking you off the relay team.”

“Then who would swim fly?” Sousuke argued.

“Me. I’ll swim fly _and_ free. Or I’ll replace you with Coach’s dog, I don’t give a fuck. And I’ll piss in your sheets,” he threatened. Sousuke laughed and began drawing a shark that matched his. 

Even if Sou had drawn a dick, Rin would have forgiven him. He had his hands on Rin’s back for the next five minutes and he stayed sitting beside him for the rest of the bus ride. And the ride back. 


	3. Help Your Friends! Shave Their Backs!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pre-championships shaving party: a really gay time-honored swim team tradition. Now with 100% more SouRin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anybody who isn't experienced with swimming--Swedish goggles are goggles that don't have any rubber padding and therefore are really uncomfortable to wear for any extended period of time. Some people still think they're cool but I could never stand them. #SwedishGogglesHate2k15

Rin probably had enough shaving cream to make the entirety of Samezuka as bald as babies, let alone just the swim team. Thank god for team funds or he wouldn’t have been able to pay for lunch for years. He hadn’t been able to fit the three plastic grocery bags of cans of shaving cream and disposable razors in his gym locker; the extra supplies had trickled over into Nitori’s locker next door. Rin was starting to think that kid could be captain material for next year. Especially now with Ai filling in the breaststroke leg of the relay at regionals in a few days, Rin thought he could trust him to take the reins on the team. Damn, he’d be surprised. Rin just hoped he wouldn’t make Momo his second-in-command like Rin had with Sousuke, now that they were almost certainly hooking up. 

_Momo and Nitori_ were hooking up. Not Rin and Sou. Obviously.

Rin had left cool-down just a few minutes early to get the shaving party ready for the rest of the team. He lined up two of the three bags on the benches and then paused to use a hair tie from his locker to tie back the wet hair that hung in his face. He had planned to get a haircut before regionals, but on second thought he might keep growing it out. Buns were fashionable on guys, right? 

The rest of the team filed into the locker room in a buzz of chatter and feet slapping against wet tile. The noise of all thirty of them crowded into the space around Rin echoed off the walls and filled the locker room with a noise like water sloshing in a bottle. 

“All right, men,” Rin announced, and the team grew quiet. “We have shaving cream and razors. You all know what to do.”

“Help your friends! Shave their backs!” Nitori chimed in. He was standing near the front and had already grabbed a can of shaving cream. 

“We see each other naked every day, you don’t need to be shy,” Rin added. “We’re leaving for regionals tomorrow morning. I want all of you to be so hairless and shiny that the other teams think you’re supermodels. And once you’re done, don’t leave. I have another surprise before we go to team dinner.” Rin grinned, frightening several first years in the process. None of them had ever experienced a shaving cream war Matsuoka-style. 

But that would have to wait. Rin began handing out supplies as the team dispersed into the shower area. Once everyone was armed with a can of shaving cream or sharing one with someone else, Sousuke was the only one left hanging around the lockers. Rin held up a razor and a can of shaving cream threateningly. 

“Your back is going to be as smooth as Ai’s ass in about five minutes,” he warned. Sousuke rolled his eyes and headed toward the shower area. 

It was…quite something to see the entirety of the Samezuka swim team covered in white foam, sliding disposable razors up their legs and arms and friends’ backs. A couple of first years had jumped into it with full enthusiasm and were currently styling each other’s shaving cream beards and mohawks. Several showers had been left running warm water, and the air was thick with steam. Rin hoped Nitori wouldn’t decide to add photos of this particularly homoerotic bonding ritual to the team Instagram he had set up. 

“Hey Rin, did you buy _scented_ shaving cream?” Momo called from the corner of the shower, where he and Nitori were spraying shaving cream up and down their arms so densely that they looked like scrawny, Speedo-clad snow men. Indeed, the steamed air that filled the shower area smelled thickly of artificial floral scent. 

Rin checked the can in his hand. In small green letters in the corner, the generic store-brand can read “spring scent.” Rin blushed. He must have accidentally bought the women’s shaving cream. 

“You all smell terrible anyway,” Sousuke commented. “It’s an improvement.” No matter how small the issue, Rin had learned that he could always count on Sousuke to have his back. Whether Rin was losing or winning, it always felt like Sou was there to push him if he needed it. Well, unless it was at Mario Kart, in which case Sousuke had no mercy and was the undisputed swim team champion after countless tournaments and rage-fueled three-in-the-morning matches in the dorm TV room. And Operation “Touch Sousuke More Often” had been successful now that he would casually throw his arm around Sousuke’s shoulders on the way into swim practice or accompany their usual fist bump with a quick hug before a race or before one of them went off to take a particularly difficult test.

Rin pointed the shaving cream at Sou and sprayed him with it. “So do you,” he jabbed before getting to work on shaving his legs. 

.................

Once the team was as hairless and smooth as they were going to get and white clumps of shaving cream coated the floor of the locker room like stalagmites, Rin distributed the remaining cans among the team and gathered them together. The new teammates looked distinctly confused, but the returning swimmers were eyeing each other carefully and trying to inch towards the door. Sousuke had positioned himself behind Rin in an obvious attempt to defend himself from the upcoming chaos. 

“Announcing,” Rin boomed into the cramped, echoing locker room. “The annual Samezuka pre-regional shaving cream war! On the count of three, I want all of you to destroy each other. The pool deck and locker room are fair game. One…two…”

Momo squealed and shot a cloud of shaving cream into the crowd. The team immediately erupted into shouts and hisses of compressed air. Foam arced everywhere as they stampeded towards the door leading to the pool, seeking a more spacious battlefield. Distantly, Rin heard a splash as someone landed in the pool. 

Sousuke remained behind Rin, who stood in the middle of the locker room, surprised. He looked over his shoulder at Sousuke and laughed. 

“Not in the mood for a shaving cream war?” Rin asked. Sousuke dropped down onto the bench and Rin sat beside him with his legs outstretched. 

Sousuke shook his head and absentmindedly rubbed at his right shoulder, though Rin didn’t think anything of it. “Me neither. Regionals seems too serious to just fuck off right now.” 

“You getting nervous?” Sou teased.

Rin scoffed. “Of course not.” But the environment in the room had dropped slightly, partially because of his own angst and partially because of Sou. He sensed something halfhearted in Sousuke’s demeanor. He wasn’t the most talkative guy on the team, but he has seemed particularly deflated since the shaving party wound down. 

Rin thought he’d change the subject. “Momo is kind of like the human version of Swedish goggles,” he commented with a grin. “He’s small and uncomfortable. He bugs you all the time, but a lot of people like him because he’s okay if you don’t spend too much time with him. But then up close all he does is try to hit on your sister.”

“I think we’ve had different experiences with Swedish goggles,” Sousuke replied with a smile that made Rin grin with excitement. His new favorite hobby was making Sou smile when he was upset. He was really glad that Sou was with him on the Samezuka team then; Rin couldn’t have hoped for better luck in his final high school season than to spend it with his best friend. Yeah, his best friend. Sousuke had been his best friend as a kid and he was again. Rin hadn’t noticed how much he had missed Sou while he was in Australia until they moved into the same room and had been able to spend as much time together as when they were kids. 

“I’m a little nervous,” Rin admitted. “This is my last regionals. I want us to make it count.”

“You don’t want to be the captain with the team that looks bad at regionals,” Sou guessed.

“I don’t want to let them down,” Rin replied with a nod. “You’re smarter than you look.”

“Jackass,” Sousuke grumbled. They were silent for a moment. “Now you just have to trust that they’ve trained hard. And trust me when I say that they’re ready. You can’t do anything else about it now.” 

Rin blinked in surprise. “You’re right,” he said, and he did trust Sousuke. Why wouldn’t he? Sousuke was such a dedicated, loyal friend. He hadn’t done a single thing to prove otherwise since they were, what, twelve? 

“Uh, Sou,” Rin began. He strangely felt himself choking up in his throat, like he was going to cry. 

“Huh?” Sousuke asked. He looked over at Rin. 

“I love you,” Rin said. He was surprised by how casual it sounded coming out of his mouth, that thing he hadn’t said to any of his friends before. He felt like something should have caught on fire, or like the team should have heard him and come stampeding back in—they must have noticed the crescendo of nervousness that hit Rin just before he said it. 

Sousuke’s eyebrows knitted together. “Uh, what?” he asked, bewildered. He didn’t sound angry, just confused.

“I mean, you’re my best friend,” Rin clarified quickly. Sousuke’s face relaxed.

“You’re my best friend, too,” Sousuke replied with a shrug. He said it as if it were the most obvious piece of trivia he knew. 

Rin looked down at the can of shaving cream he still held his hand and smiled. Sousuke didn’t have too much of a tolerance for that kind of emotional shit. In a single second, Rin slid down to the opposite side of the bench, trained the can of shaving cream on Sousuke, and sprayed a wave of white foam in an arc over his face. 

Sousuke didn’t move at first. Then he raised his hand to his face to slowly wipe the shaving cream away. 

“Matsuoka,” he began quietly. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” he shouted, grabbing a can from beside him and launching himself toward Rin, who was cackling while he raced for the door to the pool. 

Photos of Rin wearing a fluffy white shaving cream crown while shaving Sousuke’s back were up on the Instagram feed before Rin had even rinsed off. 


	4. What Didn't Happen at Regionals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, where did this angst come from? This has a lot less swimming-related stuff in it and a lot more of my headcanons, e.g. aromantic SouRin and Rin dyes his hair. We all know that shit can't be natural.

Rin probably should have just kissed Sousuke at regionals. 

It was stupid. He had plenty of opportunities. He had been leaning on Sou’s chest, crying. They had been _behind a tree,_ out where no one on the team might have seen them. He could have just kissed him right there. 

Or in the bright haze after the relay when Momo and Ai were hanging on each other and he was hugging Sousuke and everything felt good and easy and worth it. He could have done it then, even, on the pool deck in front of everyone. Well, that might have been stupid.

He could have done it on the bus ride back, when the sun had set and the bus had grown dark but the laughter of the team still suffused the air. The team had been joking and recapping their races and every once in a while someone would lead a team cheer or gather everyone around to hear an embarrassing story or some piece of Samezuka swimming lore. It had been dark enough in the back of the bus that Rin couldn’t quite see the details of Sou’s face, but when they passed a streetlight on the side of the road it glinted off his eyes and dyed his skin gold; even when Rin couldn’t see him he could feel Sousuke’s thigh bumping against his own occasionally with the rhythm of the bus. They smelled like chlorine from their hair to their team sweatpants and though the bus was alight with energy they both drooped in their seats. 

That would have been the best time. He could have sworn, even, that there were moments when he turned to look at his friend only to find that Sou was already looking at him. It would have been easy enough to lean over and kiss him then. He probably would have smelled like the pool and his spicy, boyish deodorant and the generic shampoo he used that just smelled like soap. Everything about Sousuke was so familiar. 

But Rin hadn’t kissed him and then it was two days later, the night before their pre-nationals vacation, and he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing his roommate. Rin was mixing up a bottle of his dark-red hair dye: it was the same brand both he and Kou always bought, and she was the one who usually did his hair for him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t re-dyed his hair in a while, and the chlorine had been wreaking havoc on his color. 

“Sousuke, you’re gonna have to help me do this.” Rin held out the bottle of dye to Sousuke, who was stretched out on Rin’s bunk in his pajamas. He looked at Rin and just raised an eyebrow.

“Come on,” Rin whined. “Kou usually helps me do it, but it’s an emergency.”

“Why don’t you just wear a swim cap every day?” Sousuke asked. “Or get some of that swimmer’s hair spray stuff.” 

“I like to feel the water in my hair!” Rin defended. “And…I don’t know. You know I’m lazy. Now come on and help me.” Sousuke groaned and sat up. Rin smiled when he noticed that Sou’s socks were the green shark-print pair Rin had bought for his friend before prefecturals. Grudgingly Sousuke took the bottle from Rin.

Rin pulled off his shirt and spread out his towel on the floor. He wasn’t going to make the mistake of spilling hair dye and facing the wrath of the dorm faculty again. 

“You have to wear the gloves,” Rin added as he dropped down to sit cross-legged on the towel. Sousuke shook his head and pulled on the plastic dyeing gloves that Rin had left on his desk.

“What do I even do?” Sou asked, looking down at Rin. 

“You just put the dye in my hair. Make sure to get the roots. And then I wait for it to set, and go rinse it out,” Rin explained. He stifled a shiver as he felt Sou drop down to kneel behind him, almost pressing his chest against Rin’s bare back. 

“If I fuck up, it’s because I’ve never done this before,” Sousuke grumbled as he squeezed a clump of the dark dye onto Rin’s hair. “You really do this all the time?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Rin replied. “There’s no way this shit is natural.” 

“Doesn’t your sister have the same hair color?” Sousuke was running his fingers through Rin’s hair. His nails scraped softly against Rin’s scalp.

“We dye our hair together,” Rin admitted. “We both like the color.” Sousuke snorted a laugh and Rin grinned. As the swim season came to a close, the end of the school year felt so much closer, too. Soon he wouldn’t be able to come back to his room every day and find his best friend there, napping in the top bunk, working on homework hunched over at his desk, or flipping through a magazine while draped carelessly across Rin’s bed. At some point during the year, the borders of who could spend time in Rin’s bed had faded just by how much easier it was to collapse in the bottom bunk. They never occupied the bed at the same time, however; that rule remained intact. 

“It’ll be weird not to live together anymore,” Rin remarked. He thought he felt Sou’s hands halt their motions through his hair. What that meant, too, was that Rin felt like he needed to make some kind of move soon. Before regionals it had felt like he had so much time left with Sousuke, but they’d be going their own ways soon. And with Sou quitting swimming, they were farther apart than they had been in a year. Sousuke wouldn’t be following him anymore. 

“You’ll miss coming home to me, huh?” Sou joked. Rin felt the dye, cold and wet, clumping on the back of his neck. “Oh, shit, sorry. I’m getting dye all over your neck.”

“Don’t worry about it. And, yeah, I’m gonna miss having you…around.” Rin replied. He paused for a second. He wanted to tell Sousuke he was afraid he would lose him again. They were best friends, but when they weren’t living together and swimming together every day, would they still have enough reason to see each other? “Who’s going to waste me at Mario Kart?” he joked.

“You lose to everyone else in the dorm, so I know you’ll find someone.” Rin elbowed Sousuke in the stomach and felt a drop of hair dye fall on his shoulder. 

“Damn it, I’m trying to be nice,” Rin replied. He hardly felt calmed in his anxieties: he’d grown accustomed to having someone like Sousuke in his life—someone stable and strong. felt good to have someone to rely on. 

“I think I’m done, anyway,” Sousuke said. He moved to sit up, but Rin turned to face him instead, shifting onto his knees. 

“Wait, Sou,” Rin blurted. Sousuke stayed kneeling on the floor, chin tipped down slightly so he could look Rin in the eye. There was no way Rin didn’t look stupid with his hair slicked with dye that stained the back of his neck and his hairline. 

“Yeah?” he asked. Sousuke was still holding the dye bottle in his right hand and still wearing the dye-stained gloves. Damn. That wasn’t exactly how Rin had planned to have the conversation, but if he didn’t say it then, he knew he’d be too nervous to do it later.

“When we leave Samezuka,” Rin began hesitantly. “You won’t be swimming anymore and we won’t be living together. Are we going to…stay friends?” Panic swirled in Rin’s mind. Would he be able to count on Sousuke for late-night conversations, whether those came in the form of texts or in jokes swapped from bunk to bunk? Or the reassuring weight of Sousuke’s arm around his shoulders and the encouragement of just knowing his friend was there—would he have to say goodbye to that?

Sousuke looked at him blankly for a moment and Rin looked back. Their bodies were close; their knees were a centimeter away from touching. Rin knew he could kiss Sousuke then, too, when they were close together on the floor of his room. The blinds hung open to reveal the glow of lights in the quad in front of the dorm, but curfew had passed and the campus was empty and quiet. Rin could just lean forward and finally do it.

“Yeah,” Sousuke replied. “We’re best friends.” 

Rin was definitely about to cry. He bit his bottom lip to hold it back. That was really all he wanted, after all. He did want to kiss Sou and ideally a lot more, but when it came down to it, Sousuke was his best friend and that’s how he wanted it to stay. If they were together, they wouldn’t exactly be the dating type—Rin knew Sousuke didn’t really do romance, and he didn’t mind at all. They could be something different. Rin thought that sounded perfect.

But Rin was getting ahead of himself. They weren’t together. They were never in Rin’s bed at the same time. 

Rin pushed himself up on his knees and kissed Sousuke. He cupped Sou’s cheek with his right hand and slid the tips of his fingers into the soft hair at the back of his neck. The kiss didn’t last long before Rin’s terror choked up in his throat and he pulled back, but until then Sou’s lips were soft and pliant under his, parted slightly, warm and giving. 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Rin muttered as he flinched back. That had been a stupid thing to do. Why the fuck had he ever thought Sousuke would think that was a good way for their relationship to progress? And he probably got hair dye on Sousuke like a dumbass. 

Rin scrambled to his feet and hurried towards the door. He didn’t look at Sousuke at all; he was too afraid to see his response. His cheeks were hot and red and he could feel himself starting to cry. “I’m going to Ai’s room,” he mumbled, eyes still cast down, before opening the door and slamming it behind him.

He didn’t hear Sousuke call after him. If he had stayed in the room for another moment he might have heard when Sousuke asked him to wait. 


	5. Captain's Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter elaborates on The Big SouRin Scene in episode 13 of Eternal Summer. I may have been a little casual with canon but what the hell. So here's angst and one of my personal favorite swim team (and sports in general) traditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to thank everyone who has been commenting on this fic. You've all been so kind and supportive, I'm honestly shocked--I've never received this kind of positivity on a fic before! Thank you so much for your comments and kudos and general love in my direction. I hope you enjoy the last few chapters!

Ai held out his swim cap towards Rin. 

“I know you can put on your own swim cap,” Rin replied.

“But it’s tradition! Come on!” Nitori replied. Rin rolled his eyes.

“All right, fine,” he conceded. Nitori held the front of the cap as Rin grabbed the back of it and helped Nitori stretch it over his head. Nitori pulled on his goggles and tucked stray hair under the silicone cap. 

“I might not get another chance for you to help me put on my cap ever again, you know. So I have to take advantage of this,” Nitori replied. Rin wished he could tell Ai then that he was going to be captain next year—just to see the excitement and probably tears on the kid’s face—but it would have to wait until after practice. 

“I’ll be back to visit next year,” Rin promised. “Now come on, I only have one more practice to torture you guys as captain.” He smiled and headed toward the blocks where the team was crowded. Sousuke was leaning on the lane one block. He wasn’t going to be able to swim against Rin in the final team-versus-the-captain races; he had just come to his last practice at Samezuka for the sentimentality of it all. And, he hoped, to watch Rin get his ass kicked by some enthusiastic first year high on the chance to race a national-level freestyler. 

They hadn’t discussed the kiss. That night, Rin had waited in Nitori’s room without any explanation until he thought Sousuke would be asleep—Nitori had fallen asleep with the lights on and Momo had whined for fifteen minutes about Rin staining his towel with hair dye. When it was almost two in the morning and even Momo was getting pissed to have him trespassing, he had crept back into his bed in the dark. The next day both he and Sousuke pretended it hadn’t happened, and then Rin was in Australia, and then he was at Nationals, and by the time he made it back to campus the awkwardness had faded enough that he didn’t want to bring it up.

The awkwardness was easy enough to ignore, but the worst part was that it fucking hurt. Rin had wasted his opportunity. No, it hurt because he had been stupid to think he had ever had one. Now they just tried not to let their shared room fall into uncomfortable silence that might give way to the formal rejection Rin knew would come. 

So he just shot Sousuke a grin and fixed his goggles. 

……………

Rin wasn’t surprised that the team had bought him a captain’s present; the previous year the second years had all pitched in to commission for Sei a painted portrait of himself riding a great white shark as it leapt from the water. The joke had seemed a lot funnier then. 

He was surprised, however, that Ai just handed him a small red gift bag packed with silver tissue paper. Usually the team liked to do something large and festive and as embarrassing as possible. The bag could still contain something humiliating and ridiculous—like the “monogrammed octopus dildo,” whatever _that_ meant, that the second years had bought for the captain the year before Rin showed up—but perhaps, with Nitori most likely leading the fundraising of the second years, it was something genuinely sweet and personal. Laughter trickled through the team as Rin sifted through the tissue paper. His fingers brushed something that felt oddly like silicone. Oh, fuck, maybe it was a dildo. 

It was a swim cap. Rin drew the cap from the bag and the team immediately burst out laughing. It was silver-gray and a pair of circular blue eyes gaped from the front of it. A wide, toothy smile curved across the seam and a flap of silver silicone formed a fin atop the cap. Rin smiled—it was one of those shark caps ever-popular with little kids. 

“I’m going to be the coolest kid in the 7-8 age group,” Rin laughed, but he could feel himself about to cry. Fortunately, Nitori tackled him, sobbing, before he could break down in front of the team. Rin wrapped his arms around his narrow shoulders and hid his face against Ai’s hair. He heard the slap of feet on tile and could feel Momo add his weight to the hug.

“It was hard to find a cap like that big enough to fit your huge head!” Momo exclaimed from near Rin’s right ear.

Rin drew back from Nitori, holding him at arm’s length. “Ai, keep him in line,” he nodded towards Momo, who was hanging off his shoulder. “Don’t let him burn the school down.” Nitori only nodded in response as he choked on tears and laughter.

…………

The pool was never silent. It was like a living human; it always made noise, just sometimes quieter than other times. 

Rin stood on the deck and listened to the steady inhale and exhale of the water sloshing against the walls and the purr of the pumps and filters. The last of the team had cleared out of the locker room, but Rin hung back to say goodbye to the pool. He rarely saw the pool quiet and empty as if in sleep, but every time he did he was at home. It was peaceful and solitary but not lonely. That night, though, the thought of leaving Samezuka weighed on him. The pool had been his home and the team his family for the last two years. He wanted just one more normal practice with Samezuka: one more day when there were no goodbyes to be said and nowhere he needed to go besides back to his room to finish his homework. He didn’t want to empty his locker or pack up his room; he craved the monotony of a Wednesday night in the middle of the year when weeks of homework and routine stretched out in front of him. He missed the security of knowing exactly what the next day and week and month would hold and he missed the feeling that he had plenty of time to do exactly what he needed. 

Normal wasn’t going to be the same anymore. It wasn’t going to be returning to the room and finding Sousuke there to challenge him to a round of Mario Kart, or snapping the strap of Momo’s goggles when he swam up behind Rin and grabbed at his feet during practice, or even the boring dining hall food and squeaky dorm beds. It was terrifying to think that soon he’d be in college, in Australia, in a higher level of competitive swimming than even he had experienced—normal was going to be something Rin couldn’t imagine.

Rin took a deep breath and looked out at the pool again. The water was dark and placid, rippling only slightly around the lane lines. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and headed towards the door at the opposite end of the pool.

When he lifted his head, he saw Sousuke blocking his path to the door and looking out over the pool. Or at him, maybe. Maybe he was saying good bye in the same way Rin had been. Rin neared the door and turned to face Sou. He looked pensive, hands in his pockets, eyebrows scrunched in thought. Looking at Sou there in his Samezuka jacket in the place they both called home—not Samezuka but the pool, that symbol for all the pools that had served to nurture them for almost their entire lives—filled Rin with fear. It was fine to say goodbye to Samezuka. He couldn’t say goodbye to Sousuke. 

“Who decided that it wouldn’t heal?” Rin began quietly. He didn’t know if he was sad or angry or both. He felt like someone was crushing his stomach in their hand. 

“Huh?” Sousuke asked. He stepped closer to Rin. 

“So what if it’s injured? Don’t crush your possibilities on your own,” Rin continued. “I’m waiting. I’m waiting for you to come back.” There was a pause. The only sound was the gentle hum of the pool.

“You would be,” Sousuke replied quietly. “Of course you would say that. Well, I’ll think about it.” He wasn’t looking at Rin; he was staring out the window at the soft pink of the evening sky. Then he turned his head and the look he gave Rin made him stop thinking. Rin felt like Sousuke was looking at him in the same way Rin had been feeling for months. Like he wanted something. 

Rin didn’t move when Sousuke closed the gap between them almost completely. There were only a few inches left between their bodies when Sousuke lifted his left hand to press his fingers into the shaggy hair at the back of Rin’s head. Rin couldn’t think; surprise had wiped his mind completely blank. He felt like he had left his body. The only thing that reminded him he was really there, on the pool deck at Samezuka, was the feeling of Sou’s fingers in his hair. He tipped up his chin slightly to look at Sousuke.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m swimming or not. We don’t need that,” Sousuke asserted. “I’m not leaving you.” 

Rin would have started crying if at that moment Sousuke hadn’t closed the remaining space between them and kissed him hard. Sou tangled his fingers in Rin’s hair and lifted his other hand to rest on Rin’s lower back and draw their bodies together. Rin reached up and held either side of Sousuke’s face. The only sensations left in Rin’s mind were the smell of chlorine in the pool and off Sousuke’s skin and the way Sou’s body pressed into his at every point of contact: his hand at Rin’s back and his hair; his lips forceful but warm against Rin’s; Rin’s hands clutching at Sou’s face; their chests and hips flush against each other. Rin couldn’t help but hum softly against Sousuke’s mouth. 

It was appropriate, Rin thought vaguely, that he was kissing the guy he had been best friends with since childhood, and had been pining over since the beginning of the school year, in the fucking pool. 


	6. Sunset

Rin hadn’t bothered to drop Sousuke’s hand on the way from the pool to their room, even as they hurried past a group of first and second years headed from the pool to the dining hall. He hadn’t let go of Sou’s hand as he dragged him around a bewildered Nitori in the common room. The moment they closed the door Rin found himself pressed up against the wall with Sousuke’s lips once again heavy on his. He pushed the pace of their kisses but Sousuke’s lips and hands were slow, soft, and determined to savor the experience. They didn’t need to hurry. 

Rin felt Sousuke’s large hands slip under his shirt and slide over his stomach and waist. Rin pushed off the wall slightly so he could drop his jacket to the floor without breaking the kiss. His hands tugged down Sousuke’s jacket so he could run his fingers up Sou’s back. They pulled apart slightly so Sousuke could pull of his shirt, too: Rin saw him wince as he tugged it off with just his left hand, trying his best not to raise his right arm too much. Then Sou was pushing him into the wall again. Sousuke’s tongue pressed into Rin’s mouth, slipping warm against his own, as Rin grabbed his ass and yanked their hips together. He grinned when he heard Sousuke inhale sharply against his mouth. Rin wanted to hear that reaction again; he wanted to make Sou feel good enough to pant and moan. 

But Sousuke beat him to it. He bent down to kiss along Rin’s jaw and then hard and slow down his neck. Rin moaned with need as Sou gripped his hips under his shirt and shoved his thumbs under the waistband of his sweatpants, rubbing into the soft skin there. 

“Rin,” Sousuke murmured against Rin’s neck. He spoke low, his voice as quiet and warm as a breath. Rin huffed out a moan at the sound of his name. He still didn’t completely believe it was happening; he couldn’t believe that Sou really might want him. But maybe those glances and lingering touches that fueled so many of Rin’s hopes had really meant what Rin wanted them to mean. Maybe he hadn’t just been imagining it. 

“Come on, Sou,” he whispered back. He drew away from the wall and tugged Sousuke towards his bed. Clothes and books spilled from the dressers and closets into boxes and suitcases or out across the floor. Rin paused halfway to the bed, standing between a suitcase and a pile of old textbooks in the heavy purple twilight, and looked up at Sousuke. His blue eyes were dyed navy by the fading sunset and the palest red blush tinted his cheeks. “You’re sure you want to…” Rin began hesitantly.

“Yeah,” Sousuke replied. He tugged at the hem of Rin’s shirt, prompting him to toss it to the floor. They kissed hungrily again, Sou’s tongue against Rin’s and one hand tight in Rin’s hair. The other dragged down the muscles of his back and then skated up his chest to rub his nipple. Rin groaned openly and tugged Sousuke by the waist to the bed. 

The bedsprings creaked as Sousuke dropped down on the bed with Rin standing over him. Rin’s breath choked up in his throat when he looked down at Sou’s face. His eyes roved over Rin’s body as if he had never seen it before. Sousuke hooked his fingers in the waistband of Rin’s pants and looked up questioningly. Rin nodded in consent and Sou pulled down his pants to reveal the red briefs he wore and his dick half-hard beneath them. He kicked off his shoes and socks so he could step out of the pants; Sousuke used the moment to kick off his own shoes. 

Rin gently pushed Sousuke back on the bed, eliciting another squeak from the springs. Sou fell against the pillow and grabbed Rin’s hips to pull him forward on top of him. Shivers ran up Rin’s spine as Sousuke pulled their bodies tight together and gripped Rin’s ass while seeking another desperate kiss. 

“Sou, I…” Rin choked out. He didn’t know what he wanted to say, but his chest felt heavy with the need to say _something_. Rin’s lips moved silently against Sousuke’s throat and then down his chest and stomach, his tongue flicking out to taste Sou’s skin. Rin sat up and began to pull down Sousuke’s sweatpants; Sou lifted his hips so Rin could pull them the rest of the way off. 

Rin dipped his head down to Sousuke’s stomach again and kissed sloppily. He dragged his palms up Sousuke’s sides and watched the way Sou’s back arched at his touch, his chin tipping back slightly and his fingers pressing into Rin’s shoulders. Rin’s breath hitched in his throat at the sight: he loved Sousuke. He had been thinking about this for months. 

“You look,” he began desperately, “so good. You’re so beautiful,” he breathed against Sousuke’s chest. He felt Sousuke’s hands tangle in his hair and pull him forward so his hands fell on either side of Sousuke’s face and they were eye-to-eye. Sousuke looked like he was about to say something.

“Rin,” he breathed again before dragging Rin down into another kiss. Sousuke shifted below Rin, shifting to the side so Rin could lie next to him. They repositioned clumsily so Sousuke sat with one knee between Rin’s legs. He kissed Rin and then reached down to pull off his briefs. Rin exhaled heavily watching Sousuke appraise his body. Sou looked as muscular and strong as ever, but in the half-light from outside, in their room far from stands of spectators looking down, his beauty had a tone of preciousness. Hundreds of people might have seen Sousuke in his swim suit, but only Rin was seeing him like that: naked save for his black boxers, the socks he still wore, and an expression akin to rapture. 

“Take off your socks, dumbass,” Rin said with a grin. Sousuke laughed and pulled off his socks. He looked back at Rin and then tried to reach forward with his right arm. He hissed in pain and dropped his arm back to his side. Rin sat up quickly and almost whacked his head against the top bunk. 

“It’s fine,” Sousuke assured. He leaned over Rin again, pressing him back into the sheets. He dropped his left hand and trailed his fingers down the inside of Rin’s hip. Rin’s whole body tensed.

“Come on, please, Sousuke.” Rin tried not to make it sound too much like he was begging. He noticed a smile twitch at Sousuke’s lips and he blushed. 

Sou spat in his hand and Rin stifled a groan. He had Rin moaning again when he grabbed his dick and began pumping slowly. Sousuke leaned down to kiss Rin sloppily, pushing his tongue into Rin’s mouth to silence the string of moans that filled the room. Hopefully their neighbors weren’t home, because if what the hall could hear of Momo and Nitori’s after-practice activities were any indication, the walls weren’t thick enough to keep any secrets. 

“Yeah, please,” Rin whispered against Sousuke’s mouth, but Sousuke kept moving his hand at the same pace. Rin whined in his throat when Sousuke pulled his hand away.

“You have lube, right?” he asked. 

“Uh, yeah,” Rin replied. He rolled on his side and reached for the plastic storage bin under his bed. The noise of clutter shifting cut through the heady silence as Rin rummaged in the box of spare goggles, pencils, and energy bars. He finally came up with a cloth bag from which he pulled a bottle of lube. “What?” he replied defensively to Sousuke’s eyebrow-raise. “I couldn’t have _you_ finding it.” 

Considering the situation, Sousuke laughed out loud. 

“Don’t laugh at me!” Rin crowed. “I’m naked! Underneath you! You can’t laugh at me.” His cheeks flushed red and hot, but he wasn’t surprised. He couldn’t even expect to be in the same room with Sousuke without them dissolving into laughter at some point—but Sousuke wouldn’t stop laughing, and Rin had things he wanted to do. He dropped the bottle of lube beside him on the bed and pulled Sousuke forward, over him, by his neck. Rin tightened his fingers in Sou’s hair and lifted his hips so his erection slid against the front of Sousuke’s tented boxers. Sou groaned against his lips and reached for the lube. He squirted some into his hand and stroked Rin’s dick a few times before sliding his fingers down lower. 

“Fuck, Sousuke,” Rin moaned as Sousuke pressed a finger inside of him. Sou shushed him, but at the same time crooked his finger and hit Rin’s prostate. Rin clapped his hand to his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. “More, please,” he whispered through his fingers. He lifted his hips up and back, trying to get Sousuke to move. Sou pulled his hand back and pressed in again with two fingers. With his other hand, he guided Rin to stroke himself as he pumped his fingers in and out, hitting Rin’s prostate each time. 

Rin had given up on not talking and was just trying to keep his voice to a whisper as he moaned Sousuke’s name in a ragged, gasping chant. His hand on his dick moved at a pace just as ragged as his words, but the combined friction of his hand on himself and Sousuke’s fingers inside him had him squirming nonetheless.

“Sou, I love—” he breathed. “Sou, I love you. I love you.” Rin grabbed Sousuke’s hair with his free hand and pulled him into a kiss. 

“Come for me, Rin,” Sousuke whispered against Rin’s lips. Rin opened his eyes slightly and saw the needy look on Sousuke’s face right before he pressed his fingers against Rin’s prostate and Rin’s back arched up from the mattress. Rin stroked himself one last time and he was coming on his hand and his stomach as Sousuke fingered him through his orgasm. 

“Sousuke,” Rin breathed again before relaxing on the mattress. Sousuke withdrew his fingers, earning a gentle shudder from Rin, and kissed him slowly. But Rin wasn’t done: with hands that trembled slightly, he pulled Sousuke’s boxers down to his knees. Sou slipped them off the rest of the way and let Rin shift on top of him. Rin dipped his head down so his lips grazed Sousuke’s ear. 

“I want to make you feel good,” he breathed. “I want you to come for me.” He could hear what was left of the moan Sou tried to hold back and he smiled. Rin quickly ducked down between Sousuke’s thighs and took his dick as far in his mouth as he could. He grasped Sousuke’s base and pumped quickly at what he couldn’t fit in his mouth. Rin had never really given a blow job—well, not to completion, but that was a different story—but he figured it wouldn’t take Sousuke very long to come, anyway. 

He was right. Sousuke twisted his fingers in Rin’s long hair and scratched his nails against his scalp. Rin licked Sousuke’s tip and bobbed his head down as far as he could take it a few times and then Sousuke came with a quiet groan, his hips bucking and his grip tightening in Rin’s hair. Sou’s come tasted bitter and pretty awful, but Rin swallowed what he could and the rest ended up on his hand. Rin pulled away and wiped his hand and mouth on a towel he had discarded near the foot of the bed the day before. He used the towel to wipe his stomach and then tossed it on the floor. 

Sousuke scooted towards the wall so Rin could lie down beside him. Rin pulled the thin gray sheet up to their waists and tucked himself up close to Sou. They were silent for a moment before Rin started laughing. It was fucking ridiculous, after all, being in bed naked with his best friend and teammate after they’d both just come on each other. 

“Uh,” he began. Sousuke put a hand to his face. They were moving by feeling, then: the sun had set completely and Rin could only see the vague blue outlines of Sousuke’s features, but his body was close enough that he could feel him shifting as he moved.

“Yeah,” Sousuke added through his laughter. “You’re really loud,” he commented.

It was Rin’s turn to hide his face in his hands in embarrassment. That wasn’t enough, and he pressed his face into the pillow. Sousuke rubbed his back lightly, still laughing. 

“Rin,” he said, serious. Rin, surprised by the change in tone, lifted his face from the pillow. “You know I love you too, right?”Rin couldn’t help but smile. He hadn’t known it, really, but he did then, and it filled his stomach with warmth.

“Yeah,” he replied calmly. “You’re my best friend.” 

Sousuke’s stomach grumbled and Rin remembered that they hadn’t had dinner after practice. He wanted to wait there for another minute, though, in the quiet familiarity of his room and his bed, beside the familiar form of his best friend. They were familiar forms aligned in an unfamiliar way. He could feel the warmth of Sousuke’s skin and the weight of his presence in the air: his broad shoulders, his legs almost too long for the bed, his arms curled up between them. As if Sou had heard his thoughts, he twined his arm around Rin’s waist, resting his fingers to stroke at his lower back. Rin shifted to move closer to Sou; they hardly fit in the narrow dorm bed. Hopefully someday they could do this in a much bigger bed, somewhere without any worry that their neighbors would hear them. Hopefully some day they would have a life together that didn’t involve worrying about graduation and changing schools and moving around and what that meant in terms of seeing each other again. Well, maybe that was naïve: it was easier to say that hopefully some day they would have a life together.

Light poured between the blinds as the lamps outside the dorm flickered on. They illuminated Rin and Sousuke, silent in bed save for the swell and fall of their breathing, in stripes of golden glow. A group of students passed by the window, joking and talking about their plans after graduation.

“I’m sick of the dining hall,” Rin said, breaking the silence between them. “Let’s go out to eat.” 

The future would happen eventually. Until then, they would just get dinner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read and left such kind comments! Y'all are so sweet.
> 
> EDIT: this fic now has a sequel!


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